Every immigrant knows that the key to integration is learning the language of their new country. For many the language they brought with them is simply a relic of their former life.
In Barcelona, a project is turning that on its head with the philosophy that no one arrives in a host country empty-handed. They may not yet have a job or much of an education, they may even be staying illegally, but they have a language – often more than one.
Since 2020, the Prollema (pro-llengua materna, or pro-mother tongue) project has been helping those from north and west Africa gain confidence by helping them teach their mother tongue, the Berber – or Amazigh – languages, as well as Darija, Fula and Wolof.
Based at Nau Bostik, a former glue factory now home to a range of cultural and community initiatives, the scheme is open for people aged 17 to 23, unemployed and at risk of social exclusion. About two-thirds are undocumented migrants and more than 80% have no income.
Darija, a form of Arabic, is the mother tongue of as many as three-quarters of Moroccans, who often speak Tamazight, (a standardised version of the Amazigh languages), or one of the other Amazigh languages as well.
“We thought, these young people can’t work and they don’t have anything to do, why not start a project based on their mother tongue?” says David García Savalls, the project’s coordinator. “On this basis, they learn to express themselves.”
Successful candidates undergo a four-month training course to become teachers, although García Savalls uses the terms “those who show” and “learners” rather than teachers and students.
After practising on volunteers, they begin taking classes of five students who pay a small fee that, alongside some public subsidy, gives the teachers an income.
“When a young person sees they are being listened to and people are learning from them, it has a huge impact,” says García Savalls. “The mother tongue is an excuse or a vehicle. What happens is they gain in confidence and self-esteem.”
So far, 40 people have gone through the scheme, each teaching three groups of students over a period of seven months. The curriculum is elementary and based on their own experience as immigrants struggling to learn the host language.
“I never imagined I’d be teaching my language,” says Mohamed Oulhisse, 23, who teaches Amazigh.
“It’s opened doors for me. I’ve been able to meet people and share a cultural exchange with the students. It’s made it possible for me to work as a translator in organisations working with immigrants or families with kids in school but whose parents don’t speak Spanish or Catalan.”
Chaimae Benlemchkraf, 25, taught Darija at Nau Bostik and is now in charge of expanding the scheme to Tarragona, 100km south of Barcelona.
“It’s given me a lot more self-confidence,” she says. “I’m not a nobody any more, I’m an ambassador and the person responsible for the project here in Tarragona.”
Students range from those working with immigrants to people who want to travel to Morocco or are simply keen to learn a new language. There are no other facilities in the region for learning Amazigh or Darija.
Sònia Angelats, 33, works in adult education and her students are mostly young north African men aged 18 to 25. “I wanted to at least be able to speak basic Darija so I did an intensive course with two other people last July,” she says. “Our teacher was from Casablanca. I think he was only about 19.
“In my work, when they see you know how to say things in their language and you’re interested in learning it they feel more valued and that you value their culture.”
García Savalls is clear that the scheme is as much about building self-esteem, saying that the participants often don’t value their own language because it’s seen as inferior to European languages.
“And yet, after Catalan and Spanish, Amazigh is the third most widely spoken language in Catalonia.”
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